Bob Wood | |
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Born | Robert Edward Wood February 20, 1959 |
Alma mater | Michigan State University |
Robert Edward "Bob" Wood (born February 20, 1959) is an American author, teacher and activist. As a 26-year-old high school history teacher from Kalamazoo, Michigan, (though teaching in Seattle, Washington at the time), he wrote the 1988 best selling[ citation needed ] book Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks . In June 2008, the sports blog, Baseball Musings, wrote a story commemorating the 20th anniversary of Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks. [1]
Wood resides in Grand Haven, Michigan.
During the summer of 1985, Wood visited each of the 26 Major League Baseball stadiums. He graded the sites on eight criteria: layout and upkeep, the ball field, seating, the scoreboard, food, courtesy of employees, facilities and atmosphere. Giving grades from A+ to D, Wood concluded that the two best ball parks in the majors were Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and Royals Stadium in Kansas City. [2] The worst, he decided, were Houston's Astrodome and Toronto's Exhibition Stadium. The book was well known for its humor and Wood's tales from the road. Living on a teacher's salary, Wood sold his old Ford Pinto and bought a 1985 Toyota Tercel for the trip. In order to save money, he would often use Kampgrounds of America during the journey and wrote to every Major League team to ask for free tickets. Wood appeared on Late Night with David Letterman in promotion of the book on September 7, 1988. [3]
His follow-up book in 1989 was Big Ten Country: A Journey Through One Football Season. It focused on the college football stadiums and towns in the Big Ten Conference, but did not reach the critical nor commercial success of Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks.[ citation needed ]
Wood, a 1980 graduate of Michigan State University, now teaches government, economics, and a course on Africa at Oakridge High School in Muskegon, Michigan. He also podcasts and maintains a blog "The Buddha Said I am Awake", known as "The Buddha Blog", on the school's public website. [4]
Wood is highly involved with leftist political activism and led a group of students, the "Super Dupers", in protesting the Democratic Party's use of superdelegates during the 2008 presidential election. [5] A staunch proponent of aiding Third World citizens with microfinancing via Kiva Loans, Wood often states "Action Counts Today!" [6]
Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, less than one mile from Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the ballpark of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantially rebuilt in 1934, and underwent major renovations and modifications in the 21st century. It is the oldest active ballpark in MLB. Because of its age and constrained location in Boston's dense Fenway–Kenmore neighborhood, the park has many quirky features, including "The Triangle", Pesky's Pole, and the Green Monster in left field. It is the fifth-smallest among MLB ballparks by seating capacity, second-smallest by total capacity, and one of nine that cannot accommodate at least 40,000 spectators.
Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the ballpark for Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of US$23 million. It is the oldest ballpark in MLB west of the Mississippi River, and third-oldest overall, after Fenway Park in Boston (1912) and Wrigley Field in Chicago (1914), and is the largest baseball stadium in the world by seat capacity. Often referred to as a "pitcher's ballpark", the stadium has seen 13 no-hitters, 2 of which were perfect games.
A hot dog is a dish consisting of a grilled, steamed, or boiled sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener or a frankfurter. The names of these sausages commonly refer to their assembled dish. Hot dog preparation and condiments vary worldwide. Common condiments include mustard, ketchup, relish, onions in tomato sauce, and cheese sauce. Other toppings include sauerkraut, diced onions, jalapeños, chili, grated cheese, coleslaw, bacon and olives. Hot dog variants include the corn dog and pigs in a blanket. The hot dog's cultural traditions include the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest and the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile.
William Earnest Harwell was an American sportscaster, known for his long career calling play-by-play of Major League Baseball games. For 55 seasons, 42 of them with the Detroit Tigers, Harwell broadcast the action on radio and/or television. In January 2009, the American Sportscasters Association ranked him 16th on its list of Top 50 Sportscasters of All Time.
Braves Field was a baseball park located in Boston, Massachusetts. Today the site is home to Nickerson Field on the campus of Boston University. The stadium was home of the Boston Braves of the National League from 1915 to 1952, prior to the Braves' move to Milwaukee in 1953. The stadium hosted the 1936 Major League Baseball All-Star Game and Braves home games during the 1948 World Series. The Boston Red Sox used Braves Field for their home games in the 1915 and 1916 World Series since the stadium had a larger seating capacity than Fenway Park. Braves Field was the site of Babe Ruth's final season, playing for the Braves in 1935. From 1929 to 1932, the Boston Red Sox played select regular season games periodically at Braves Field. On May 1, 1920, Braves Field hosted the longest major league baseball game in history: 26 innings, which eventually ended in a 1–1 tie.
Bob Wood may refer to:
Steven Patrick Garvey is an American former professional Major League baseball player who played first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres from 1969 to 1987. He is also the Republican Party's nominee in 2024 United States Senate election in California.
The Dodger Dog is a hot dog named after the Major League Baseball franchise that sells them, the Los Angeles Dodgers. It is a 10-inch pork wiener wrapped in a steamed bun. The hot dog is sold at Dodger Stadium located in Los Angeles, California. According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, the projected number of 2011 season hot dogs sold at Dodger Stadium was 2 million—establishing Dodger Dogs as the leader in hot dog sales of all those sold in Major League Baseball ballparks.
Ball Park Franks is an American brand of hot dog and hamburger buns and patties made by Tyson Foods and popularized in 1958 by the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball. Ball Park Frank is the most consumed hot dog in America with 94.9 million consumers in 2017. In 2022, Ball Park Franks were the leading selling refrigerated frankfurter with 160.7 million dollars in sales, second behind was Oscar Mayer with 98.4 million in sales.
The 1988National League Championship Series was played between the National League West champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the National League East champion New York Mets. The Dodgers won the Series four games to three, en route to defeating the Oakland Athletics in five games in the 1988 World Series.
Old-Timers' Day refers to a tradition in Major League Baseball where a team devotes the early afternoon preceding a weekend game to honor retired players who played for the organization during their careers. The retired players play in an exhibition game, usually lasting about three innings.
Ray Fisher Stadium is a baseball stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is the home field of the University of Michigan Wolverines college baseball team.
The 1989 Rose Bowl was the 75th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Monday, January 2. This year marked the 100th anniversary of the Tournament of Roses parade. The Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten Conference upset the fifth-ranked USC Trojans of the Pacific-10 Conference, 22–14. Down by 11 points at halftime, the Wolverines shut out the Trojans in the second half and won by eight. Michigan fullback Leroy Hoard was named the Player of the Game.
Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks: And All the Wieners In Between is a 1988 book by Bob Wood. It was published by McGraw-Hill and covers Wood's trip to all 26 Major League Baseball stadiums in one summer
The 1981 Major League Baseball season culminated with the Los Angeles Dodgers defeating the New York Yankees in the World Series, capturing the franchise's fifth World Series title. The season had a players' strike, which lasted from June 12 to July 31, and split the season into two halves. Teams that won their division in each half of the season advanced to the playoffs. This was the first split season in American League history, and second for the National League, which had played a split season in 1892.
The 1949 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 18 through October 15, 1949. Both the American League (AL) and National League (NL) had eight teams, with each team playing a 154-game schedule. The New York Yankees won the World Series over the Brooklyn Dodgers in five games. Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox and Jackie Robinson of the Dodgers won the Most Valuable Player Award in the AL and NL, respectively.
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Casey Richard Close is an American former baseball player and sports agent.
The Michigan State Spartans baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball team of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. The team competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I and are members of the Big Ten Conference.
In 1980, 22 teams took part in a one-year cable deal with UA-Columbia. The deal involved the airing of a Thursday night Game of the Week in markets at least 50 miles (80 km) from a major league park. The deal earned Major League Baseball less than $500,000, but led to a new two-year contract for 40-45 games per season.